crackpot
/ˈkɹæk.pɒt/ noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms crackpots
- noun (informal) An eccentric, crazy or foolish person. “Time will tell whether he is a crackpot or a genius for promoting that sort of idea.”
- noun (informal) Someone addicted to crack cocaine (i.e. a drug addict).
- adjective (informal) Eccentric or impractical. “a crackpot idea”
- proper noun A small village in Grinton parish, Swaledale, North Yorkshire, England, previously in Richmondshire district (OS grid ref SD9796)
Synonyms
crank crazy kook live one nut ball nutbag nutbar nutcase nutter bizarro coot eccentric freak glaik hard case oddball oddity odd bod odd duck odd fish nut nut case fruitcake screwball
Etymology
Mostly likely a back-etymology of pot, to form crack + pot. Originally, from crack + pate.
Compare typologically Russian чо́кнутый (čóknutyj) (< чо́каться (čókatʹsja), onomatopoeic), see crack for the further typology.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “crackpot”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details